By Leah Tuckwiller
Dr. Chris Rodebaugh has had not one but two giants growing out of his backyard this year – two more massive pumpkins, each weighing well over half a ton. Even with the summer drought stretching on into the fall, Rodebaugh came remarkably close to matching the weight of last year’s 1,551.5-pound fruit, with this year’s crop weighing in at 1,418 and 1,347 pounds, respectively.
Rodebaugh took his two pumpkins to three weigh-ins this year, taking the heavier of the two to Oklahoma and then bringing it back to Milton for the West Virginia Pumpkin Festival, a non-sanctioned, local event with no national or international bearing. While pumpkins are only permitted at one sanctioned weigh-off, the Milton festival allowed him to weigh one pumpkin two times; that pumpkin took first place at both events. The other, he took to the North Carolina State Fair, where he faced some competition this year and came away with third place.
Read more in the Wednesday, November 6, 2019, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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